Chapter 72: A Pool of Blood

  Yang Fan recognized his identity at a glance.

  "Oh! I...I see no one is around here, it's convenient!"

  Yang Fan put on a very embarrassed expression.

  There is a thatched cottage not far away, but he didn't go there. He looked around and saw no one, so he relieved himself in someone's garden. When he was caught, he felt embarrassed, of course. Yang Fan's attitude was impeccable. The people in the alleys and streets didn't know the rules and often urinated wherever they pleased, thinking it was normal. His behavior wasn't out of line either.

  Shen Jiahui frowned in disgust, gave him a cold glance and said in a low voice: "Be vigilant, the assassin who has not appeared for three consecutive days is likely to appear tonight. If you can make any discovery, please alert us in time. Once we catch him, there will be a heavy reward!"

  Shen Jiahui's eyes were a bit red, he hadn't slept well for several days, and had been holding his breath waiting to find the assassin, but in the end, he didn't even see a shadow of him. He was now really exhausted, if it wasn't for the urge to avenge his brother that supported him, he would have fallen asleep long ago.

  "Don't worry, sir, you haven't seen me wandering around all this time for nothing. I wouldn't dare to slack off."

  Shen Jiahui grunted and turned around, just about to leave, when Yang Fan suddenly exclaimed: "Huh? What's that?"

  "What?"

  Shen Jiahui suddenly turned around, his sword flashed out of its scabbard, and before the sound of the sword had even faded away, he was already standing beside Yang Fan, his movements incredibly swift.

  Yang Fan pointed to the grass and said with a surprised expression: "General, look over there, what is that?"

  Shen Jiahui looked around, puzzled, and said: "Where? Found something... uh!"

  Before he could finish speaking, Shen Jiahui felt a severe pain in his dantian. Without thinking, he raised his elbow and charged at Yang Fan, who took advantage of the opportunity to strike him and immediately flew away. Shen Jiahui's charge was almost close enough to touch Yang Fan's clothes, sending him flying two zhang away.

  Shen Jiahui lowered his head to take a look, and saw that the fresh blood was gushing out from his lower abdomen, staining his clothes red. When he hadn't noticed it before, there was still some strength left in him. But as soon as he saw the wound on himself, he suddenly felt that all his energy had been drained away. He abruptly lifted his head and glared fiercely at Yang Fan.

  Yang Fan had a dagger at his waist, the dagger was still hanging there, but he didn't know when, he already held a short blade in his hand, and the blade's edge was dripping with bright red blood.

  Shen Jiahui had previously interrogated the two guards under Yang Langzhong who had fought with the assassin, and also verified their martial arts skills with them. The result was naturally a complete victory. Therefore, he thought that since those two people could fight with the assassin to a stalemate, the assassin's martial arts skills would not be too high.

  He couldn't understand how Liu Kui, who had the most stable and fierce knife skills and the highest martial arts among his four brothers, was sitting there motionless and beheaded by someone with just one knife.

  Now he knew, and at the same time, he also knew that his own life had come to an end. The only thing he wanted to do now was to make known the identity of the assassin, so that his brothers would know and not follow in his footsteps again.

  "The Assassin is..."

  Shen Jiahui took a deep breath and shouted loudly without saying a word.

  But as soon as he opened his mouth, he found that the little guy who was standing two zhang away, seemingly waiting for the master to return home under the lamp, had already appeared in front of him like a ghost. Shen Jiahuai had always been proud of his own agile movements, but now he discovered that this person was even faster than him, much faster.

  "Stab!"

  A person suddenly appears in front of you.

  "Guest!"

  The short sword is sheathed, the horizontal sword comes out, the sword rises, and the light halo is like a wheel.

  "Yes!"

  "Whoosh!" A head flew up.

  At the moment when that man's head flew up, Yang Fan felt as if his heart had been scalded with boiling oil, and he couldn't express the pain. The pain was accompanied by a kind of inexplicable pleasure. He vaguely saw again the figure of Ah Jie running like a deer in the mountains, saw the flying blood and head.

  "Who's shouting? What... thing... thing... thing... Come quickly!!!"

  The angry voice of rebuke quickly turned into a terrified bleat, coming from the mouth of the Ministry of Justice official who had rushed to respond.

  Yang Fan had already fled like a rabbit, and before leaving, he stabbed Shen Jiahui's abdominal wound again, making the wound blurred and difficult to distinguish what kind of sharp object was injured. When he rushed into the bushes, he still didn't forget to bring those two pieces of iron pot bottom.

  Yang Fan's usual attention to every detail in the Yang family compound, from every blade of grass to every pavilion, now played a huge role. With a burst of speed, he darted out like a ghostly shadow and disappeared in an instant.

  When the back house was boiling and overflowing into the sky, Yang Fan had already washed his knife clean in the pool of water where he had performed the dog's digging, inserted it back into his waist, and a faint red ripple appeared on the surface of the pool, which was immediately dissolved by the entire pool of water, and the faint trace of blood could no longer be seen.

  Endless blood of enemies, countless heads of enemies to be killed.

  One day, he will dye this pool of water into a crimson hue!

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  "Who is this assassin and how did he manage to find my people with such accuracy?"

  In Yang Mingsheng's bedroom, Cai Dong was furious and interrogated.

  Cai Dongcheng has been in the army for a long time, from a small soldier to the high position of Zhonglang General. Now he is powerful and authoritative, with an aura that commands respect. Whenever he gets angry, his fierce energy is even more intimidating. However, his furious expression had no effect on Yang Mingsheng, who was already blind. Even if he could see, he would not be afraid at all.

  Cai Dongcheng's aura of murder was cultivated in the military, forged in the bloody battles between two armies. Yang Mingsheng, on the other hand, was just a civil official who had never even personally killed anyone. Yet, with a single order to "behead!", the people whose heads fell to the ground were almost all high-ranking officials or powerful merchants, not a single one being a commoner or a lowly peddler.

  Yang Mingsong personally beheaded many officials, among whom were not a few who held the same official rank as Cai Dongcheng, and even some who held higher ranks than him. He had even sentenced to death and supervised the execution of members of the imperial family and relatives of the emperor. How could Cai Dongcheng intimidate him?

  Yang Mingsheng sat on the bed, sneering continuously: "This person has been able to find me, it can be seen that he has made great efforts. This person is meticulous and must have investigated me early on, knowing my details clearly. Now, your people are so ostentatious, afraid that others don't know that he is a dignified thousand cow backup. You hold a grand funeral in my mansion, making a big fuss, how could he not know the inside story?"

  "That's unreasonable! It doesn't make sense at all!"

  Cai Dongcheng paced heavily in the room, each step sinking into the floorboards with a dull thud. He had lost two top generals in succession and was truly heartbroken. These four men were not only his brothers who had followed him for many years, but also the mainstay of his control over the Left Imperial Guard, his four most trusted confidants.

  A confidant can't be cultivated just by wanting to, and it's not easy to get one who is truly loyal. If someone is casually promoted to a position of power, can they really rely on the old subordinates who have followed them for twenty years?

  Moreover, without sufficient ability, how can he control the arrogant and unruly soldiers guarding the Imperial Guard? With 12,000 troops at his disposal, who knows how many people are eyeing these positions? Once a vacancy arises, can he simply promote several of his own people as he pleases?

  He was like a trapped lion, his eyes red: "Even so, how could he accurately identify my people's identities? They were all wearing casual clothes, how could that person possibly find them in the mansion without killing anyone wrongly?"

  Cai Dongcheng stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Yang Mingsheng, a hint of realization on his face as he said, "No! There must be a traitor in your household!"

  Yang Mingsheng angrily said: "Nonsense! Someone's household is very strict, and those who can serve in someone's mansion are all people who know the roots. The shortest time has also been called by someone for two or three years, and everyone is loyal!"

  Cai Dongcheng sneered, "Loyalty? You actually believe in loyalty? If people's hearts were trustworthy, why would the over 100 people of Taoyuan Village in Shaoguan have been slaughtered back then?"

  Yang Mingsheng retorted: "You don't believe in loyalty, so do you think that Liu Kui and Shen Jiahui's group of people would also betray you if they put personal gain first?"

  Cai Dongcheng said gloomily: "As long as there is enough benefit, why wouldn't I betray you?"

  Yang Mingsheng chuckled: "What a pity for Liu Kui and Shen Jiahui, their vengeful spirits are not far away. If they heard your words, they would definitely be heartbroken."

  Cai Dongcheng's expression changed, and he said: "There are indeed people who are loyal and sincere, but for those in high positions, if they rely solely on the loyalty of their subordinates without any precautions, that is the greatest foolishness!"

  Yang Mingsheng nodded slightly and said, "Not bad! I agree with this sentence of yours. However, I still don't believe that the traitor is from among my subordinates. The mansion has summoned many officials from the Ministry of Justice and Luoyang Prefecture's patrol officers, as well as Ding Mao from Wuhoufang. If someone had helped the assassin by leaking information, it must have been one of them."

  Cai Dongcheng shook his head and said, "It's impossible! The officials from the Ministry of Justice and Luoyang Prefecture were appointed by their superiors after the case was reported, and no one knew in advance that they would be assigned to this case. As for the soldiers led by General Wu, it's even more unlikely - they were only summoned because of a shortage of manpower, and the people who were summoned were arbitrarily arranged by the head of the ward and the unscrupulous officials."

  How could an assassin have possibly established a connection with one of them beforehand? Once they moved into your manor, they were always by your side, and even if they had left before, it's highly unlikely that they would become the assassin's accomplice in such a short period of time, regardless of whether they were coerced or bribed.

  Yang Langzhong, unless you have enemies all over the world and the Ministry of Punishment, Luoyang Prefecture, and the unscrupulous shops and alleys of Xiwenfang are all in cahoots with each other to deal with you, it's impossible for them to collude. So if there is any suspicion, it must come from within your own household!

  Cai Dongcheng's analysis was indeed very reasonable, and Yang Mingsheng's conviction couldn't help but waver a bit. He fell silent for a moment before asking, "So what do you plan to do?" P: Today, a book friend said that in the past, your books always had a clear thread to follow, so I could roughly guess what would happen next. But this book is full of unexpected twists and turns! Many developments made me think it would go one way, but when I saw the update, it went another way. After careful consideration, I realized that it's actually more reasonable and surprising. Hehe, feeling pleased, I'm seeking recommendation votes in the morning.